Gaming & Culture —

Liveblog: Nintendo’s E3 press conference on June 7

Nintendo may have the most anticipated E3 press conference this year. We already know we'll be seeing the company's new hardware, and the press will be able to play it directly after. We'll be here detailing all the announcements; expect impressions of the major games and the hardware soon after.

What do you think we'll see? Sound off in the comments. The event is set to take place at 9am PDT (GMT-7) on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 (see it in your timezone).

82 Reader Comments

Of all the companies, I'm least interested in Nintendo's conference. Their games just don't do much for me and their hardware rarely intrigues me. I saw the Wii as a gimmick mostly, and that perspective appears to have been proven accurate so far. I credit them for their creativity - at least in some categories and I know they have a ton of fans but they rarely capture my interest.

Still, it will be interesting to hear about their new system and see what route they go with it. And of course the Ars reporting will be great as always.

Nintendo was basically a generation behind hardware wise for this generation. With the next release of Sony and Microsoft in 2-3 years. If Nintendo is going to be a generation behind again for half of the generation I'm a little concerned again. While this generation was very popular for them. Their handheld monopoly is just getting demolished by Android/iOS.

Based on some leaked specs, it didn't look that impressive from a forward-thinking device mentality. Plus the very aggressive price point of the PS Vita, it will be pretty embarrassing to release a new home console that is similar power/features to a portable machine for the same price.

We'll see, but Nintendo definitely seems to be on the ropes since the release of the 3DS.

Come now, whatever they announce will surely be more impressive than a 24", $500 Playstation TV set.

Did you forget about the Wii Vitality Sensor that was announced and in fact was the big reveal during a Nintendo E3 presentation, it was openly mocked during the presentation and pretty much never heard from again.

Since they're announcing a new console they win the anticipation award by default.

Sony's lineup isn't interesting to me. The presentation was lacking Last Guardian. But the PSV pricing was a big blow to Nintendo and that kind of saved their conference.

Microsoft's presentation was one of the worst things I've ever seen. Dudebro vs. Kinect auto-win kid games. Nothing in between? I didn't renew Live this year and i was a early adopter of the 360! They really have abandoned their base.

Come now, whatever they announce will surely be more impressive than a 24", $500 Playstation TV set.

Did you forget about the Wii Vitality Sensor that was announced and in fact was the big reveal during a Nintendo E3 presentation, it was openly mocked during the presentation and pretty much never heard from again.

I'm kind of excited, mainly because their announcements are either really "wow, I need to own that" or "wow, that is incredibly stupid."

Hopefully it's awesome stuff and they've learned their lesson from Wii Music and the Vitality sensor. Also, I'm hoping that their designers may have left Japan a couple times and seen what the rest of the world is doing with gaming consoles. Their insularity is what's going to hold them back, methinks. They need to get past that, if they care at all about keeping a large portion of the new gamers they've picked up with the Wii.

@Nulls: My memory is not perfect, but I'm pretty sure Nintendo is the king of bad E3 conferences. Wii Music and Vitality Sensor, etc.

This one should be no different. "Meh" hardware compared to the big boys and all kinds of questionable off-beat decision making. We'll just have to see how the market reacts in November and December.

Nintendo tends to go back and forth between awful and amazing E3 conferences. They give us Wii Music + Vitality Sensor one year, then the next they show off Skyward Sword + Kirby's Epic Yarn + Donkey Kong + NBA Jam (at the time thought to be sorta-exclusive) + GoldenEye + The 3DS and a huge 3rd party lineup for it.

Note: A quality conference doesn't necessarily mean they'll follow through on everything before the next conference. (No Skyward Sword, Kid Icarus, or really any decent library at all for the 3DS yet.)

looking forward to seeing whats going on with the new console. But im not looking forward to hearing skyward sword on the new system.

I hear that. I'm kind of tired with Zelda being a "once per console generation" release. Yes, I know they're good games, and that quality takes time, but come on. It's not like the design team takes a 2-year vacation in between titles.

looking forward to seeing whats going on with the new console. But im not looking forward to hearing skyward sword on the new system.

I hear that. I'm kind of tired with Zelda being a "once per console generation" release. Yes, I know they're good games, and that quality takes time, but come on. It's not like the design team takes a 2-year vacation in between titles.

it would be pretty kick ass if N did put steam on their new console but i just can't imagine it.

they've proven time and time again they're just out of touch with core gamers starting with the n64 and they still haven't really recovered from that stumble. the 3ds pricing was just the straw that completely broke the camel's back with me and N. i'll always have a spot in ma heart for em but i just can't continue to support em.

though anything is going to be better than MS' kinect idiocy. a corpse would be more interesting than what MS showed.

There will be an underpowered new console maybe a little more powerful than the current gen, and some cute new gewgaws attached like a touch-screen controller. It will not win over the hardcore at all. It may take off again in the casual or semi-casual crowd, or maybe Wii fans, and it may make nintendo a lot of money, but it will not unseat the X360 or the PS3, nor will it catch on as a hardcore or mainstream platform.

Nintendo is shit. They got lucky with the Wii, but after that... it's all been meh. Actually the Wii was also meh. Move is a much better implementation of that idea. Even the 3DS is barely doing Ok, and hopefully will be steam-rolled by the new PSP. The last time they made something inspiring was the N64, even thought that failed, it was an amazing machine. Nintendo may be financially successful with this new console, but they are shit from a hardcore gamer's perspective.

Technically speaking, the Wii hasn't had ONE Zelda game yet. TP was built on the cube and ported to the Wii with no changes other than the horizontal flip and remote support.

Sadly, this is true. Nintendo really should be able to make two solid Zelda titles in a 5 or 6 year console cycle. Technically it did so for the Gamecube, even if they pushed TP to the Wii to help generate console sales.

I am not very excited about Nintendo's conference. No matter what the new console is, I am not buying it--at least not until much later. Skyward Sword looks awful to me; it's the first Zelda game that I really couldn't care less about. I would say that you could describe me as more curious than anticipating the Nintendo event.

Even though I'm not happy with the Wii, I am still curious to see what this new console of theirs is about. New tech is always exciting and fascinating sometimes ( especially with imaginative uses ). The only thing that I see being a hurdle with this new console is if it actually has a touch screen in the controller. Won't that make the controllers really expensive? Yikes

I love the Wii. It is the only console I own. It was also the only console that came out with a next generation last cycle. The others retreaded hardware improvements and graphics upgrades, Nintendo trail blazed with a new console, a next generation console, that Microsoft and Sony took years to catch up with.

Now 5 years plus later and their conferences focus on Kinect and Move, while Nintendo will hopefully bring about another new generation of gaming to bring in even more people to their fold.

My only fear is they drop us in favour of the 'old-core' graphics/specs whores.

My prediction is that Nintendo, having already conquered Microsoft and Sony, will now set their sights on Apple. The 3DS was an extension of their DS line. The detachable touchscreen for their Cafe's remotes is their next true handheld. The form factor of an ipod touch with the ability to play apps and handheld games AND console games!!!

Technically speaking, the Wii hasn't had ONE Zelda game yet. TP was built on the cube and ported to the Wii with no changes other than the horizontal flip and remote support.

Sadly, this is true. Nintendo really should be able to make two solid Zelda titles in a 5 or 6 year console cycle. Technically it did so for the Gamecube, even if they pushed TP to the Wii to help generate console sales.

They also managed to create Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for the N64. Also don't forget Zelda I and II for the original NES.

Technically speaking, the Wii hasn't had ONE Zelda game yet. TP was built on the cube and ported to the Wii with no changes other than the horizontal flip and remote support.

Sadly, this is true. Nintendo really should be able to make two solid Zelda titles in a 5 or 6 year console cycle. Technically it did so for the Gamecube, even if they pushed TP to the Wii to help generate console sales.

They also managed to create Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for the N64. Also don't forget Zelda I and II for the original NES.

every other generation?so maybe this new console will have 2. unless im mistaken SNES only had the one right?

I love the Wii. It is the only console I own. It was also the only console that came out with a next generation last cycle. The others retreaded hardware improvements and graphics upgrades, Nintendo trail blazed with a new console, a next generation console, that Microsoft and Sony took years to catch up with.

Now 5 years plus later and their conferences focus on Kinect and Move, while Nintendo will hopefully bring about another new generation of gaming to bring in even more people to their fold.

My only fear is they drop us in favour of the 'old-core' graphics/specs whores.

My prediction is that Nintendo, having already conquered Microsoft and Sony, will now set their sights on Apple. The 3DS was an extension of their DS line. The detachable touchscreen for their Cafe's remotes is their next true handheld. The form factor of an ipod touch with the ability to play apps and handheld games AND console games!!!

Make me proud Nintendo.

I'm an ex-Nintendo fan, and you couldn't be more wrong. Sony's conference focused mostly on NGP (PlayStation Vita); it makes the 3DS look like an utter joke for the same price. They also focused on 3D (meh) and PS Move. Nintendo tossed their fanbase aside, and now they're trying to win them back with a new console. They jumped the gun with motion controls and made an utter disaster out of it. Sony actually understands how to make motion controls work--make them OPTIONAL. Nintendo took a bunch of awesome classic games and shoehorned some gimmicky imprecise waggle into them.

I was a die-hard Nintendo fan, and now because of the Wii and the lack of quality games on Nintendo platforms, I could hardly care about them.

I'm an ex-Nintendo fan, and you couldn't be more wrong. Sony's conference focused mostly on NGP (PlayStation Vita); it makes the 3DS look like an utter joke for the same price. They also focused on 3D (meh) and PS Move. Nintendo tossed their fanbase aside, and now they're trying to win them back with a new console. They jumped the gun with motion controls and made an utter disaster out of it. Sony actually understands how to make motion controls work--make them OPTIONAL. Nintendo took a bunch of awesome classic games and shoehorned some gimmicky imprecise waggle into them.

I was a die-hard Nintendo fan, and now because of the Wii and the lack of quality games on Nintendo platforms, I could hardly care about them.

You've got a point. Ladies and Gentleman, he has a point.

Donkey Kong was kind of ruined by the "Shake to roll" garbage. It was a good game, but it could've been a phenominal one. The same goes for NSMB.

That crap was unnecessary.

But I still think this new system has potential to be golden. Hopefully they won't let me down, or I'll watch that ship sink from afar.

I'm an ex-Nintendo fan, and you couldn't be more wrong. Sony's conference focused mostly on NGP (PlayStation Vita); it makes the 3DS look like an utter joke for the same price. They also focused on 3D (meh) and PS Move. Nintendo tossed their fanbase aside, and now they're trying to win them back with a new console. They jumped the gun with motion controls and made an utter disaster out of it. Sony actually understands how to make motion controls work--make them OPTIONAL. Nintendo took a bunch of awesome classic games and shoehorned some gimmicky imprecise waggle into them.

I was a die-hard Nintendo fan, and now because of the Wii and the lack of quality games on Nintendo platforms, I could hardly care about them.

Nintendo realized they couldn't compete head on against MS and Sony so they chosen to focus on an untapped marked, it worked well for them. I doubt they will try to regain the "hardcore" marked with the Wii HD, they just want to keep the "casual" gamers from going to xbox/playstation copycats.

I'm an ex-Nintendo fan, and you couldn't be more wrong. Sony's conference focused mostly on NGP (PlayStation Vita); it makes the 3DS look like an utter joke for the same price. They also focused on 3D (meh) and PS Move. Nintendo tossed their fanbase aside, and now they're trying to win them back with a new console. They jumped the gun with motion controls and made an utter disaster out of it. Sony actually understands how to make motion controls work--make them OPTIONAL. Nintendo took a bunch of awesome classic games and shoehorned some gimmicky imprecise waggle into them.

I was a die-hard Nintendo fan, and now because of the Wii and the lack of quality games on Nintendo platforms, I could hardly care about them.

Nintendo realized they couldn't compete head on against MS and Sony so they chosen to focus on an untapped marked, it worked well for them. I doubt they will try to regain the "hardcore" marked with the Wii HD, they just want to keep the "casual" gamers from going to xbox/playstation copycats.

Agreed. I'm interested to see if this new system does as well as the Wii did. I don't know if their new market will be quick to buy the new console if it's too expensive... But I don't agree with the copy cat part. Sony was actually working on the Move before Nintendo announced the Wii--they just beat them to market. Which is a huge failure on Sony's part.

As an aside anyone know how the schedule works at E3. I am largely interested in new from the THQ area this year. News on Dark Millennium Online, and the Multiplayer for Space Marine. Don't get me wrong there has been some Arkham City stuff that was cool, the sprucing up of Halo CE was kind of good news, and the info on Prototype 2 just reminds me that sometime it is hard to hate Activision enough to not buy their games. But I consider that all small fish next to anything 40k.

I'm sorry, but that controller looks utterly breakable and Fisher Price-ish. Underwhelming to say the least. But hey, I said that about the Wii, too. While i am hating on the controller, those graphics look nice. Application is 85% of the battle though.